The naXys institute specializes in the analysis of complex systems, whether in astronomy and dynamic cosmology, mathematical biology, optimization in optics, economic complexity or the study of the stability and robustness of these systems.

Quel est le point commun entre le cerveau humain, les réseaux sociaux, les systèmes financiers, l'univers, les systèmes optiques, le métabolisme ou le génome ? 

Ce sont des exemples classiques de systèmes complexes, c'est-à-dire des systèmes composés d'un grand nombre d'éléments simples en interaction et présentant des phénomènes émergents. L'objectif principal de l'Institut de recherche naXys est l'étude de ces systèmes complexes, à travers l'analyse de données réelles, leur modélisation par les mathématiques et les simulations numériques, leur contrôle et leur optimisation. 

Notre conviction est qu'une bonne compréhension des systèmes nécessite une étape de modélisation, qui permet d'identifier les relations de cause à effet entre les différents paramètres et d'identifier les mécanismes par lesquels ils opèrent. Cette abstraction doit être basée sur une validation empirique, mais l'exploitation des données seules n'est ni suffisante ni satisfaisante. C'est pourquoi une connaissance du domaine spécifique et l'utilisation d'outils adéquats de modélisation, d'analyse et de simulation sont indispensables.

Les axes de recherche

  • Astronomie dynamique, cosmologie et astrobiologie (SPACE)
  • Biologie mathématique (BIO)
  • Ingénierie optique et optique quantique (OPTICS)
  • Algorithmes d'optimisation, intelligence artificielle et robotique (AI)
  • Complexité socio-économique (ECO)
  • Stabilité et robustesse (ROBUST)

Spotlight

News

FNRS 2024 calls: Focus on the naXys Institute

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ODD #3 - Good health and well-being
ODD #9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Professor Elio Tuci has just been awarded Research Credit funding from the FNRS. The naXys institute specializes in the analysis of complex systems, whether in astronomy and dynamic cosmology, mathematical biology, optimization in optics, economic complexity or the study of the stability and robustness of these systems. The institute is structured around 6 research axes: Space, Bio, Optics, Eco, Robust and Robotics.

Photo d'Elio Tuci avec les logos FNRS et naXys

Elio Tuci is a professor at the Faculty of Computer Science and a member of UNamur's Institut naXys (axe Robotics). He has just been awarded Crédit de Recherche (CDR) du F.R.S - FNRS funding following calls whose results were published in December 2024.

His research falls within the interdisciplinary field of bio-inspired robotics and computational intelligence. In his research activity, he draws inspiration from nature to design control mechanisms enabling artificial agents to operate in a complex environment and learn autonomously from their experience.

The aim of his work is twofold. On the one hand, it seeks to design autonomous adaptive systems by developing control mechanisms that underpin complex behavioral, social, cognitive and communication capabilities. On the other, he designs computational and robotic models to generate new and alternative hypotheses concerning the operational principles of cognition and learning in natural organisms: macroscopic (i.e. mathematical) and microscopic (i.e. computational based on computer-simulated agents) models.

These models are used to study the operational principles of collective behaviors, such as aggregation, swarming, chemotaxis or simple collective decision-making processes, in natural and transgenic populations of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a 1 mm-long worm parasite of plants and animals.

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)

The FNRS funding will be used to extend the computing resources available to our team already working on the BABots collaborative project, with a powerful server unit that will enable us to exploit the advantages of parallel computing to carry out advanced research and analysis.

About BABots


The BABots consortium, funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC), is made up of an international team of experts in neurobiology, synthetic biology, collective behavior, robotics and ethics, as well as a leading agro-technology company. Coordinated by Elio Tuci, the aim is to develop and promote BABots technology and demonstrate its usefulness and safety within a rigorous ethical and regulatory framework.

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Illustration représentant des robots avec le logo du projet BABots et le logo EIC de l'UE

Researchers are implementing the first BABot system in C. elegans. The worm's BABots will be programmed to act as a collective to detect, localize and attack invasive pathogens in a confined agricultural environment.

The BABots project has received funding from the European Innovation Council's Horizon Europe - EIC PathFinder work program under the Project 101098722 agreement.

Other projects supervised by naXys' Robotics division

The Action de Recherche Concertée (ARC) AUTOMATic project

This project aims to develop and test, in a simulation environment, a content-aware urban traffic management system based on a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

More info on the ARC projects website.

The EU-C2W Fellowship - On the study of firefly synchronisation using robots

"Connect with Wallonia - Come 2 Wallonia" (C2W) is a European postdoctoral program (Marie Skłodowska Curie COFUND action) open to postdoctoral researchers in all fields of research. The project, led by Dr Marcelo Avida and Cinzia Tomaselli, involves implementing what is known as synchronization response in a population of e-puck robots. It is inspired by behavior observed in certain species of fireflies as part of courtship.

More info on the C2W website.

The SPW's Win4Doc project is researching Monaster - Failure monitoring system with a preventive and autonomous maintenance strategy based on robotics and artificial intelligence for space applications.

This project led by Antoine Hubermont aims to create a platform for visualizing and predicting information about the condition of terrestrial assets, assessing the risk level of their failure, identifying anomalies and initiating a process to restore their functions. The platform integrates and combines the detection and prediction capabilities of artificial intelligence-based solutions with the technical capabilities of robotic solutions. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Telespazio Belgium.

The SPW BEWARE fellowship is researching ILabBot - Intelligent Laboratory Autonomous Mobile Robot for Pharmaceutical Industry

The aim of this project led by Dr. Muhanad Alkilabi is to equip the HelMO mobile robot with all the necessary control mechanisms and possibly additional sensors to enable the robot to operate autonomously in a pharmaceutical laboratory environment in order to automate production processes currently carried out by human operators. This project is being carried out in collaboration with CISEO.

Further information

FNRS, la liberté de chercher

Chaque année, le F.R.S.-FNRS lance des appels pour financer la recherche fondamentale.  Il a mis en place une gamme d'outils permettant d’offrir à des chercheurs, porteurs d’un projet d’excellence, du personnel scientifique et technique, de l’équipement et des moyens de fonctionnement.

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Find out more

Women in science: portraits of women in astronomy

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Physics
Mathematics
Science, philosophy and society
Life and health sciences
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ODD #5 - Gender equality

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science proclaimed on February 11 by the United Nations General Assembly, and as part of the European alliance European Space University for Earth and Humanity (UNIVERSEH) focusing on the theme of space, discover the testimonies of four women scientists from UNamur working on astronomical themes.

Photo de 4 chercheuses : E-A. Dubois, E. Berger, A-C. Heuskin, J. Bodart

An international day dedicated to Women and Girls in Science

Throughout the world, there has been a significant gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for years. Although women have made immense progress in terms of their participation in higher education, they remain under-represented in these scientific categories.

To promote the empowerment of women and girls in STEM and raise awareness of the need to include women in science and technology, in 2015 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed February 11 "International Day for Women and Girls in Science".

February 13, 2025 | 5th edition of Women & Girls in science @ UNamur

This annual event aims to promote women's and girls' access to, and full participation in, science and technology. It serves as a reminder of the important role of women in the scientific community and is an excellent opportunity to encourage girls and young women to participate in scientific developments.

Anne-Catherine Heuskin, Professor, Department of Physics

What is your scientific field and what are your studies/research focused on?

I'm a physicist and the subject of my dissertation work was a mix between physics and biology: radiobiology. The idea is to use ionizing radiation to damage cells, particularly cancer cells.

Phoro d'Anne-Catherine Heuskin
Anne-Catherine Heuskin

At the Laboratoire d'Analyses par Réactions Nucléaires de l'UNamur (LARN) we have a particle gas pedal which, among other things, produces protons and alpha particles. These particles can be used to irradiate cancer cell cultures to destroy their genetic material and prevent them from proliferating. In clinical practice, X-rays are usually used, as they are easier to produce, less bulky and less costly. But in terms of effectiveness, we hope to achieve better results with charged particles, such as the one used here. This is the basis of proton therapy.

What is your involvement in the European university alliance UNIVERSEH focused on the theme of space?

Ionizing radiation is also encountered in space. Astronauts on the International Space Station are exposed to doses far more intense than those received on the Earth's surface. This radiation has effects on living organisms.

In this context, I'm working on the RISE (Rotifer in Space) project, launched in 2013 with Boris Hespeels and Karin Van Doninck, in partnership with the Unité de Recherche en Biologie Environnementale et évolutive (URBE) at UNamur, ULB and SCK-CEN. This project focuses on rotifers, organisms that are extremely resistant to various conditions: cold, temperature variations, desiccation, a very high radiation dosage... Our aim is to understand how they would react in an environment such as the ISS and whether they develop particular strategies to protect their genomic integrity, which could be used to protect humans in space.

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Do you think the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

First and foremost, whether male or female, scientists are rather special animals: they eat, sleep and think science all the time. But then again, you have to have the opportunity to do so. When you're a woman, in today's society, that can be more complicated, not least because of the many clichés that persist.

I remember one Whitsun Monday when I was emptying my washing machine when I got a message from a colleague "I'm reading a great review!"And there I thought "Great, me, I'm cleaning underpants"We don't all live the same reality. There are those who have a family, a house, with all the mental load that goes with it. And then there are those who don't have children (yet) and have less to think about outside their job. Sometimes I tell myself that I have to continually catch up with people who are much more competitive, but who also have much more time to devote to research.

What do you think could facilitate and encourage the careers of women scientists?

I teach all first-year science students and I notice that there are a lot of girls in the life science streams like biology or veterinary medicine, but far fewer in mathematics or physics. It's quite unbalanced. So how can we encourage more women to take up these disciplines? I think it starts very early.

Interest in science is built up from childhood, through education and the image of the world passed on to them by their families. It's not at the age of 18 that you have to ask the question. We need to show them the horizon of possibilities, and make sure they understand that science is neither "for girls" nor "for boys".

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Interest in science is built up from childhood, through education and the image of the world transmitted to them by their families.

Anne-Catherine Heuskin Professor, Department of Physics

The right time to awaken this curiosity is when children start to reason, to ask themselves questions: why does the sun always rise in the same place? What happens to an ice cube when it melts? Why does a cold glass fog up when you blow on it? That's when you can accompany them, explain things to them and encourage them to look for answers. We need to give children a taste for explaining and questioning the world.

What message would you like to pass on to a woman who might be hesitant to go into science?

I think the message is valid for all students, whether boys or girls: why do you want to do this or that study? What's your motivation? If it's because your parents advised you to, that's not a good reason. If it's because you're strong in a subject so you're going to study it, that might not be a good justification either. What counts above all is desire. The desire to understand, to discover, to question the world around us.

Justine Bodart, Doctoral student in the Mathematics Department.

What is your scientific field and what are your studies/research focused on?

I work with Professor Anne-Sophie Libert at the naXys Institute on the study of the stability of extra-solar systems and celestial dynamics. I'm also on the student council of the UNIVERSEH alliance as a PhD student representative.

Photo de Justine Bodart
Justine Bodart
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Photo de Justine Bodart

Women in science are transforming the world through their curiosity, perseverance and intelligence.

Justine Bodart Doctoral student in the Department of Mathematics

Do you think the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

I think being a woman can influence a scientific career because of the stereotypes that still exist, but it should reinforce our desire to change mentalities and inspire other women.

What do you think could facilitate and encourage the careers of women scientists?

We should give greater visibility to the contributions of women in the scientific world, encourage their input and value their often underestimated historical role. I also think it's important to combat gender bias and create a more inclusive working environment.

Eve-Aline Dubois, researcher, Department of Science, Philosophy and Society

What is your scientific field and what do your studies/research focus on?

I work in the history and philosophy of science. I am particularly interested in the historical and philosophical developments of cosmology. After studying the competing theory to that of the Big Bang and its history in the twentieth century, I am now working on the emergence of the conception of an infinite universe.

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Eve-Aline Dubois

Do you think that the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

I think that all facets of my identity influence and will influence my career: my gender, my age, my nationality, etc., whether in the way I approach my career or the way I'm viewed by my colleagues.

I think that all facets of my identity influence and will influence my career. Whether it's in the way I approach my career or the way my colleagues look at me.

Women in science are not a novelty or a rarity, but they are forgotten and erased names.

Eve-Aline Dubois Researcher, Department of Science, Philosophy and Society

What do you think could facilitate and encourage the careers of women scientists?

All career projects should be encouraged and supported, regardless of gender. Everyone cites Marie Curie as an example, but that's just the tree that hides the forest. Let's talk about Verra Rubin, Margaret Burbidge, Henrietta Leavitt and all their colleagues. Women in science are not a novelty or a rarity, but they are forgotten and erased names.

What message would you like to pass on to a woman who might be hesitating to go into astronomy?

Why are you hesitating? This career is gripping, exciting, testing, overwhelming and rewarding. You have to be motivated and ready to give it your all. Your gender doesn't affect your skills, so if you're tempted, GO FOR IT!

An inspiring message to share?

I like to share Fred Hoyle's quote: "You must understand that, cosmically speaking, the room you are now sitting in is made of the wrong stuff. You, yourself, are odd. You are a rarity, a cosmic collector's piece." To study astronomy, or cosmology, is to confront immensity and sometimes wonder where we fit in. I find it quite comforting to remember that our uniqueness makes us a little treasure.

Emelyne Berger, physical sciences student and member of the "Kap to UNIVERSEH" project kot-à-projet

What is your scientific field and what do you study?

I study physics... but not only! The training offered at bachelor level provides us with a solid, general foundation that will enable us to choose a more specialized master's degree. We develop a range of knowledge from chemistry to programming via the human sciences, not forgetting mathematics, which is the indispensable support for the development of theories.

Photo d'Emelyne Berger
Emelyne Berger

We are also led to practice experimentation and discover scientific research.

In 2024 I joined, with a small group of students, the UNIVERSEH alliance as a member of the Local Student Club of Namur which is also registered as a new kot-à-projet on the university campus. We were able to take part in the organization of the General Meeting last November as part of an activity aimed at European students. I also took part in the Spring School organized in 2024 by UNamur on the site of the Euro Space Center and am preparing for a trip to Sweden in early March as part of the Arctic Winter School.

Do you think the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

I've always been encouraged to do what I liked, so societal ideas categorizing fields as "masculine" or "feminine" didn't really influence my choice of study. Lack of support and self-confidence can be a hindrance when entering a world that doesn't seem to be our own. Admittedly, you may have to battle with some people, but you can make your mark, like anyone else, as a woman.

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Photo d'Emelyne Berger

These days, female figures who make their mark and who have made their mark on science are increasingly recognized, which is a good thing and gives the future generation of scientists a diversity to be able to identify with.

Emelyne Berger Physical sciences student and member of the "Kap to UNIVERSEH" kot-à-projet.

What do you think would facilitate and encourage a woman to study science and, ultimately, a career in science?

You only need to look at the history of science to understand that every human being is capable of great things if they are allowed to. Nowadays, female figures who have left their mark on science are increasingly recognized, which is a good thing and gives the future generation of scientists a diversity to identify with. They, like them, have paved the way for us to have the freedom to choose what we want to do with our lives.

I find it unfortunate that it still takes days like these to emphasize the fact that we are all equal. I just think that everyone should be pushed to pursue what they're drawn to, and valued according to their abilities.

What message would you like to give to a woman who might be hesitant about taking up astronomy studies?

When you find your path, you have to follow it. I'd tell her not to hesitate, and that if it turns out in the end that the path doesn't suit her, this is in no way a sign of inferiority or inability.

An inspiring message to share?

The message I'd like to share is a short phrase that I've been trying to keep in mind ever since it was passed on to me: Don't try, just do it.

Carine Michiels, Vice-Rector, Research

As part of the 60th anniversary of the European Federation of Biochemical Societies (FEBS), explore the captivating stories of the scientific journeys of 35 women scientists. Among them discover the story of Carine Michiels, Vice-Rector for Research and Libraries.

Article FEBS Carine Michiels

"Research has always fascinated me. I studied biology with the aim of studying plant biotechnology, but ended up in a human cell biology laboratory. I've never regretted that choice. Over 40 years later, I'm still fascinated by the complexity of cellular behavior, and in particular by the plasticity of cancer cells. Teaching scientific methodology to students and mentoring young researchers is something I particularly enjoy. "

Gender and diversity at UNamur

La prise en compte de la dimension de genre est une priorité à l’Université de Namur pour garantir à toutes et tous les mêmes chances de réussite. L’université met l’accent sur la promotion de l’accès des femmes aux sciences et technologies (STEM) et encourage activement leur participation dans les développements scientifiques.

 

UNIVERSEH | Opportunities in the space sector

UNamur is a member of the European alliance European Space University for Earth and Humanity (UNIVERSEH), which focuses on the theme of space. This is a real recognition of UNamur's expertise in the field of space, and a gateway to new international collaborations in both teaching and research, around a field that is driving employment and socio-economic development.

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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Artificial intelligence at the service of the educational imagination: the innovative gamble of André Fűzfa and Fabrice Rasir

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Vulgarisation scientifique

An astrophysics expert, Professor André Fűzfa (Faculté des sciences, Institut Naxys) also harnesses his scientific knowledge to take everyone on a journey into the world of the imagination, through literature. Finding Ganymede is his new novel, co-created with illustrator Fabrice Rasir, an alumnus of the Mathematics Department. A book that incorporates images generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The novel is thus a skilful blend of graphic AI, physics and fiction that helps stimulate the imagination while providing an instructive dimension.

couverture-roman-retrouver-ganymede

Entertaining and educating

For André Fűzfa, writing is not the result of a quest for notoriety; it's a necessity to share ideas that are deeply close to his heart. Indeed, fiction enables him to tackle complex - or delicate - themes through the action and choices of characters. The imaginary thus enables us to reflect on current issues in our society, such as the antagonism between the exploration and exploitation of space. Beyond mere entertainment, his novels also aim to educate and offer food for thought about our world. André Fűzfa chose science fiction for its escapist power, but also for its ability to tackle complex scientific subjects - such as interstellar travel - in an accessible and entertaining way.

AI as story support

Retetrouver Ganymède is part of the same universe as André Fűzfa's first novel, "À l'appel des étoiles ", yet can be read independently. Given the imaginative richness of his fiction, the author has chosen to integrate graphic evocations into the novel. The originality? These images were generated with the help of AI, skilfully piloted by Fabrice Rasir.

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The Venus Shield ©Retrouver Ganymede

Fabrice Rasir, an alumnus of the University of Namur (with a degree in mathematics obtained in 1996), is an IT consultant for a major Belgian company by day. But by night, he's an AI-rtist pushing the limits of these new tools everyone's talking about. The incredible productions of Fabrice aka Bibheist serve as a benchmark in this emerging milieu.

The desire to co-create meant that Fabrice Rasir was fully involved in the fiction creation process. Indeed, illustration here becomes much more than a simple supplement: it's an integral part of the story, with images created in interaction with the story. Some descriptions in the text have even been adjusted to suit the images, creating an enriching dialogue between the written word and the illustration. "By proceeding in this way, we realize that we have influenced the reader's imagination, but on the other hand we accentuate immersion because some of the images are really striking."

André Fűzfa adds, "These are not illustrations, they are evocations. You shouldn't take the illustrations as an iconographic 'canon' but as a vision. It gives certain elements to the readership and allows them to take a break from reading and escape into artistic co-creation."

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L'Allée des Grandes ©Retrouver Ganymède

In fact, the images in this book are an integral part of the reading experience. This is not an attempt to skew the reader's vision, but on the contrary to enrich it. Illustration can offer a medium that stimulates the imagination, that opens up possibilities.

Creating with AI

"We selected a dozen themes from the novel to explore visually. Then, each illustration is worked on separately. Fabrice contributes graphic explorations and then generates several dozen images. We choose together. Then there's all the complex post-processing work during which Fabrice refines the illustration." André Fűzfa explains.

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Kyūshigai Shinnosuke ©Retrouver Ganymèd

For the authors, the process of creating the images was both a challenge and a fascinating experience. Indeed, the illustration work involved not just creating images, but producing a graphic exploration of characters, settings and moods.

One of the main obstacles encountered when using AI lies in its difficulty in accurately rendering specific elements, such as certain physical features of characters or symbolic ornaments. Indeed, the technology doesn't allow for the detail offered by a draughtsman's line. The clothes and finery produced by AI are often remarkably original, but only if they remain in the same style, which the AI can identify.

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Aspera Holdfény, the novel's heroine ©Retrouver Ganymède

By placing artificial intelligence at the service of readers' imaginations, André Fűzfa and Fabrice Rasir have signed a work that offers readers a modern and novel narrative experience.

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Finding Ganymede - the pitch

Two Ganymedes clash. The first is a utopia forged by exiles fleeing Earth and its patriarchal domination, an egalitarian society dreaming of a new world - before disappearing, drowned in the ice that formed Anat's Palimpsest. The second, the She-Wolf's Ganymede, perverted this legacy to establish a reign of cruelty and oppression.

Aspera, orphan of the debacle turned indomitable warrior, will go beyond her revenge to bring down tyranny and free her own kind. Meanwhile, Sarah and her family, refugees on a moribund Earth after an interstellar shipwreck, are once again forced to flee for their survival, and that of humanity.

But the greatest threat is not this approaching interplanetary war. It only prepares the way for the advent of the Void Gangrene, a cataclysm that the Universe has been undergoing since the birth of the Shadows...

Between dream and ruin, what has become of Ganymede's utopia?

And you, how far would you go to find it?

Better prediction of climate extremes

Mathematics
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SDG #13 - Measures to combat climate change

Statistics usually focus on anticipating events that fall within the norm. But what about rare events? They are dealt with by a branch of mathematics called extreme value theory, in which Anna Kiriliouk, lecturer in statistics at UNamur, is a specialist. Applied to the climate, this theory enables us to better predict extreme climatic events, at a time when these are multiplying due to climate change.

Photo de la banquise et de la mer

This article is taken from the "Impact" section of the December 2024 issue of Omalius magazine.

On the night of January 31, 1953, the North Sea suddenly rose by almost four meters, submerging parts of the Netherlands and Belgium. The disaster caused the death of over 2,500 people, as well as considerable damage. According to Anna Kiriliouk, lecturer in statistics at UNamur's Department of Mathematics and EMCP Faculty, this exceptional event truly marked "the beginning of the development of extreme value theory, with the development of the first extreme value construction project"

The Delta Plan, as it is called, is a system of dikes that protects the Netherlands against the risk of flooding, with these dikes overtopping once every 10,000 years. A rare danger, certainly, but not zero, which "could not have been calculated using conventional statistics, which are very poorly adapted to rare events", believes the mathematician.

While climate change is often discussed in terms of averages, such as rising temperatures and sea levels, it also has the consequence of increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, with significant repercussions for our societies. "In other words, the risk increases along with the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere", summarizes the researcher. "Thus, a flood calculated in 1953 to occur only every 10,000 years does not have the same significance as today. The latter could happen more frequently, for example every 1,000 years."

Attributing extreme events

While extreme weather events are on the increase, it's difficult in practice to attribute any particular flood or drought to climate change. With this in mind, Anna Kiriliouk has just been awarded an interdisciplinary research project,named EXALT, in collaboration with UCLouvain. "It involves both climatologists and statisticians, she reveals.

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Photo d'Anna Kiriliouk

"This collaboration is very important, because answering this question of the attribution of extreme events can only be done through the development of a common language between our two disciplines, which currently operate separately. We have a lot to learn from each other"

Anna Kiriliouk Lecturer in Statistics, Department of Mathematics and EMCP Faculty, UNamur

In practice, the EXALT project will therefore calculate the probabilities of an extreme event occurring, and compare this probability with that of the same situation in a world where GHG emissions would not have increased. "Of course, we don't have real data from such a world", says Anna Kiriliouk. "We are therefore basing ourselves on alternative climate simulations, the quality of which we will moreover compare, with a focus on extreme events."

Divided into three working groups, the EXALT project will seek in particular to determine the role of climate change in the occurrence of floods, as well as heat waves and drought in Europe. And to do so as realistically as possible: "One of the things we want to incorporate into climate models concerns the dependency between data," explains Anna Kiriliouk. "For example, if a heat wave hits Namur, there's a good chance that the same temperatures will affect Louvain-La-Neuve. We therefore say that there is a strong spatial dependency between these two data. However, this dependence is probably not at all valid for rain, which is much more heterogeneous. By taking into account all these variables, both spatial and temporal, we hope to improve existing models."

A third working group will study much more distant areas, located in Antarctica. "Until 2016, the extent of the Antarctic ice pack was increasing, before abruptly decreasing", the researcher illuminates. "Or, according to the models, this event was considered almost impossible. But with one of EXALT's partners, we began to analyze the evolution of pack ice extent using extreme value theory. With the latter, this sudden drop was no longer so improbable. This gave us confidence in our approach, which is all the more important when the state of the pack ice has such a strong influence on other climate variables."

Compound events

This interaction between several climatic processes is, moreover, the subject of a second project just obtained by Anna Kiriliouk and funded by an FNRS Mandat d'Impulsion Scientifique. "The aim is to make it possible to study what we call compound events", explains the researcher. "During extreme climatic situations, we usually associate very high or low values simultaneously, such as a lack of rain and high temperature, resulting in an intense drought. But in the case of compound phenomena, we find that the combination of several variables, albeit in a moderate state, results in a severe and unusual event."

In 2017, for example, Hurricane Sandy, which struck the US coastline, is considered a compound event. While North Atlantic hurricanes usually dissipate in mid-ocean, this one coincided with onshore winds and a high tide, leading to massive flooding of New York and the surrounding area.

"In this project, we will therefore try to include more flexibility between the different variables, by introducing different degrees of dependence, the mathematician elaborates. "We're also going to try, as a second step, to group the dependencies together, in order to lighten the models, which become more and more complex as we add nuances to them. And once these models have been modified, we'll apply them to recent events to test their realism."

EXALT - ARC project (FWB)

Funded by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB), ARC projects are Concerted Research Action projects that aim to develop university or inter-university centers of excellence in basic research areas and, where possible, that carry out basic and applied research in an integrated way and aim to add economic and social value to research results.

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Mandat d'impulsion scientifique (MIS) - FNRS

The aim of the funding granted is to support young permanent researchers wishing to develop a scientific unit within their academic institution in a promising field. This mandate has earned Anna Kiriliouk a fellowship from Namur Research College (NARC).

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This article is taken from the "Impact" section of Omalius magazine #35 (December 2024).

Visuel de Omalius #35 - décembre 2024

FNRS 2024 calls: Focus on the naXys Institute

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UniversEH
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ODD #3 - Good health and well-being
ODD #9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Professor Elio Tuci has just been awarded Research Credit funding from the FNRS. The naXys institute specializes in the analysis of complex systems, whether in astronomy and dynamic cosmology, mathematical biology, optimization in optics, economic complexity or the study of the stability and robustness of these systems. The institute is structured around 6 research axes: Space, Bio, Optics, Eco, Robust and Robotics.

Photo d'Elio Tuci avec les logos FNRS et naXys

Elio Tuci is a professor at the Faculty of Computer Science and a member of UNamur's Institut naXys (axe Robotics). He has just been awarded Crédit de Recherche (CDR) du F.R.S - FNRS funding following calls whose results were published in December 2024.

His research falls within the interdisciplinary field of bio-inspired robotics and computational intelligence. In his research activity, he draws inspiration from nature to design control mechanisms enabling artificial agents to operate in a complex environment and learn autonomously from their experience.

The aim of his work is twofold. On the one hand, it seeks to design autonomous adaptive systems by developing control mechanisms that underpin complex behavioral, social, cognitive and communication capabilities. On the other, he designs computational and robotic models to generate new and alternative hypotheses concerning the operational principles of cognition and learning in natural organisms: macroscopic (i.e. mathematical) and microscopic (i.e. computational based on computer-simulated agents) models.

These models are used to study the operational principles of collective behaviors, such as aggregation, swarming, chemotaxis or simple collective decision-making processes, in natural and transgenic populations of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a 1 mm-long worm parasite of plants and animals.

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)

The FNRS funding will be used to extend the computing resources available to our team already working on the BABots collaborative project, with a powerful server unit that will enable us to exploit the advantages of parallel computing to carry out advanced research and analysis.

About BABots


The BABots consortium, funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC), is made up of an international team of experts in neurobiology, synthetic biology, collective behavior, robotics and ethics, as well as a leading agro-technology company. Coordinated by Elio Tuci, the aim is to develop and promote BABots technology and demonstrate its usefulness and safety within a rigorous ethical and regulatory framework.

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Illustration représentant des robots avec le logo du projet BABots et le logo EIC de l'UE

Researchers are implementing the first BABot system in C. elegans. The worm's BABots will be programmed to act as a collective to detect, localize and attack invasive pathogens in a confined agricultural environment.

The BABots project has received funding from the European Innovation Council's Horizon Europe - EIC PathFinder work program under the Project 101098722 agreement.

Other projects supervised by naXys' Robotics division

The Action de Recherche Concertée (ARC) AUTOMATic project

This project aims to develop and test, in a simulation environment, a content-aware urban traffic management system based on a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

More info on the ARC projects website.

The EU-C2W Fellowship - On the study of firefly synchronisation using robots

"Connect with Wallonia - Come 2 Wallonia" (C2W) is a European postdoctoral program (Marie Skłodowska Curie COFUND action) open to postdoctoral researchers in all fields of research. The project, led by Dr Marcelo Avida and Cinzia Tomaselli, involves implementing what is known as synchronization response in a population of e-puck robots. It is inspired by behavior observed in certain species of fireflies as part of courtship.

More info on the C2W website.

The SPW's Win4Doc project is researching Monaster - Failure monitoring system with a preventive and autonomous maintenance strategy based on robotics and artificial intelligence for space applications.

This project led by Antoine Hubermont aims to create a platform for visualizing and predicting information about the condition of terrestrial assets, assessing the risk level of their failure, identifying anomalies and initiating a process to restore their functions. The platform integrates and combines the detection and prediction capabilities of artificial intelligence-based solutions with the technical capabilities of robotic solutions. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Telespazio Belgium.

The SPW BEWARE fellowship is researching ILabBot - Intelligent Laboratory Autonomous Mobile Robot for Pharmaceutical Industry

The aim of this project led by Dr. Muhanad Alkilabi is to equip the HelMO mobile robot with all the necessary control mechanisms and possibly additional sensors to enable the robot to operate autonomously in a pharmaceutical laboratory environment in order to automate production processes currently carried out by human operators. This project is being carried out in collaboration with CISEO.

Further information

FNRS, la liberté de chercher

Chaque année, le F.R.S.-FNRS lance des appels pour financer la recherche fondamentale.  Il a mis en place une gamme d'outils permettant d’offrir à des chercheurs, porteurs d’un projet d’excellence, du personnel scientifique et technique, de l’équipement et des moyens de fonctionnement.

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Women in science: portraits of women in astronomy

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Students
Physics
Mathematics
Science, philosophy and society
Life and health sciences
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ODD #5 - Gender equality

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science proclaimed on February 11 by the United Nations General Assembly, and as part of the European alliance European Space University for Earth and Humanity (UNIVERSEH) focusing on the theme of space, discover the testimonies of four women scientists from UNamur working on astronomical themes.

Photo de 4 chercheuses : E-A. Dubois, E. Berger, A-C. Heuskin, J. Bodart

An international day dedicated to Women and Girls in Science

Throughout the world, there has been a significant gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for years. Although women have made immense progress in terms of their participation in higher education, they remain under-represented in these scientific categories.

To promote the empowerment of women and girls in STEM and raise awareness of the need to include women in science and technology, in 2015 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed February 11 "International Day for Women and Girls in Science".

February 13, 2025 | 5th edition of Women & Girls in science @ UNamur

This annual event aims to promote women's and girls' access to, and full participation in, science and technology. It serves as a reminder of the important role of women in the scientific community and is an excellent opportunity to encourage girls and young women to participate in scientific developments.

Anne-Catherine Heuskin, Professor, Department of Physics

What is your scientific field and what are your studies/research focused on?

I'm a physicist and the subject of my dissertation work was a mix between physics and biology: radiobiology. The idea is to use ionizing radiation to damage cells, particularly cancer cells.

Phoro d'Anne-Catherine Heuskin
Anne-Catherine Heuskin

At the Laboratoire d'Analyses par Réactions Nucléaires de l'UNamur (LARN) we have a particle gas pedal which, among other things, produces protons and alpha particles. These particles can be used to irradiate cancer cell cultures to destroy their genetic material and prevent them from proliferating. In clinical practice, X-rays are usually used, as they are easier to produce, less bulky and less costly. But in terms of effectiveness, we hope to achieve better results with charged particles, such as the one used here. This is the basis of proton therapy.

What is your involvement in the European university alliance UNIVERSEH focused on the theme of space?

Ionizing radiation is also encountered in space. Astronauts on the International Space Station are exposed to doses far more intense than those received on the Earth's surface. This radiation has effects on living organisms.

In this context, I'm working on the RISE (Rotifer in Space) project, launched in 2013 with Boris Hespeels and Karin Van Doninck, in partnership with the Unité de Recherche en Biologie Environnementale et évolutive (URBE) at UNamur, ULB and SCK-CEN. This project focuses on rotifers, organisms that are extremely resistant to various conditions: cold, temperature variations, desiccation, a very high radiation dosage... Our aim is to understand how they would react in an environment such as the ISS and whether they develop particular strategies to protect their genomic integrity, which could be used to protect humans in space.

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Do you think the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

First and foremost, whether male or female, scientists are rather special animals: they eat, sleep and think science all the time. But then again, you have to have the opportunity to do so. When you're a woman, in today's society, that can be more complicated, not least because of the many clichés that persist.

I remember one Whitsun Monday when I was emptying my washing machine when I got a message from a colleague "I'm reading a great review!"And there I thought "Great, me, I'm cleaning underpants"We don't all live the same reality. There are those who have a family, a house, with all the mental load that goes with it. And then there are those who don't have children (yet) and have less to think about outside their job. Sometimes I tell myself that I have to continually catch up with people who are much more competitive, but who also have much more time to devote to research.

What do you think could facilitate and encourage the careers of women scientists?

I teach all first-year science students and I notice that there are a lot of girls in the life science streams like biology or veterinary medicine, but far fewer in mathematics or physics. It's quite unbalanced. So how can we encourage more women to take up these disciplines? I think it starts very early.

Interest in science is built up from childhood, through education and the image of the world passed on to them by their families. It's not at the age of 18 that you have to ask the question. We need to show them the horizon of possibilities, and make sure they understand that science is neither "for girls" nor "for boys".

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Interest in science is built up from childhood, through education and the image of the world transmitted to them by their families.

Anne-Catherine Heuskin Professor, Department of Physics

The right time to awaken this curiosity is when children start to reason, to ask themselves questions: why does the sun always rise in the same place? What happens to an ice cube when it melts? Why does a cold glass fog up when you blow on it? That's when you can accompany them, explain things to them and encourage them to look for answers. We need to give children a taste for explaining and questioning the world.

What message would you like to pass on to a woman who might be hesitant to go into science?

I think the message is valid for all students, whether boys or girls: why do you want to do this or that study? What's your motivation? If it's because your parents advised you to, that's not a good reason. If it's because you're strong in a subject so you're going to study it, that might not be a good justification either. What counts above all is desire. The desire to understand, to discover, to question the world around us.

Justine Bodart, Doctoral student in the Mathematics Department.

What is your scientific field and what are your studies/research focused on?

I work with Professor Anne-Sophie Libert at the naXys Institute on the study of the stability of extra-solar systems and celestial dynamics. I'm also on the student council of the UNIVERSEH alliance as a PhD student representative.

Photo de Justine Bodart
Justine Bodart
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Photo de Justine Bodart

Women in science are transforming the world through their curiosity, perseverance and intelligence.

Justine Bodart Doctoral student in the Department of Mathematics

Do you think the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

I think being a woman can influence a scientific career because of the stereotypes that still exist, but it should reinforce our desire to change mentalities and inspire other women.

What do you think could facilitate and encourage the careers of women scientists?

We should give greater visibility to the contributions of women in the scientific world, encourage their input and value their often underestimated historical role. I also think it's important to combat gender bias and create a more inclusive working environment.

Eve-Aline Dubois, researcher, Department of Science, Philosophy and Society

What is your scientific field and what do your studies/research focus on?

I work in the history and philosophy of science. I am particularly interested in the historical and philosophical developments of cosmology. After studying the competing theory to that of the Big Bang and its history in the twentieth century, I am now working on the emergence of the conception of an infinite universe.

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Eve-Aline Dubois

Do you think that the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

I think that all facets of my identity influence and will influence my career: my gender, my age, my nationality, etc., whether in the way I approach my career or the way I'm viewed by my colleagues.

I think that all facets of my identity influence and will influence my career. Whether it's in the way I approach my career or the way my colleagues look at me.

Women in science are not a novelty or a rarity, but they are forgotten and erased names.

Eve-Aline Dubois Researcher, Department of Science, Philosophy and Society

What do you think could facilitate and encourage the careers of women scientists?

All career projects should be encouraged and supported, regardless of gender. Everyone cites Marie Curie as an example, but that's just the tree that hides the forest. Let's talk about Verra Rubin, Margaret Burbidge, Henrietta Leavitt and all their colleagues. Women in science are not a novelty or a rarity, but they are forgotten and erased names.

What message would you like to pass on to a woman who might be hesitating to go into astronomy?

Why are you hesitating? This career is gripping, exciting, testing, overwhelming and rewarding. You have to be motivated and ready to give it your all. Your gender doesn't affect your skills, so if you're tempted, GO FOR IT!

An inspiring message to share?

I like to share Fred Hoyle's quote: "You must understand that, cosmically speaking, the room you are now sitting in is made of the wrong stuff. You, yourself, are odd. You are a rarity, a cosmic collector's piece." To study astronomy, or cosmology, is to confront immensity and sometimes wonder where we fit in. I find it quite comforting to remember that our uniqueness makes us a little treasure.

Emelyne Berger, physical sciences student and member of the "Kap to UNIVERSEH" project kot-à-projet

What is your scientific field and what do you study?

I study physics... but not only! The training offered at bachelor level provides us with a solid, general foundation that will enable us to choose a more specialized master's degree. We develop a range of knowledge from chemistry to programming via the human sciences, not forgetting mathematics, which is the indispensable support for the development of theories.

Photo d'Emelyne Berger
Emelyne Berger

We are also led to practice experimentation and discover scientific research.

In 2024 I joined, with a small group of students, the UNIVERSEH alliance as a member of the Local Student Club of Namur which is also registered as a new kot-à-projet on the university campus. We were able to take part in the organization of the General Meeting last November as part of an activity aimed at European students. I also took part in the Spring School organized in 2024 by UNamur on the site of the Euro Space Center and am preparing for a trip to Sweden in early March as part of the Arctic Winter School.

Do you think the fact that you're a woman influences your career as a scientist?

I've always been encouraged to do what I liked, so societal ideas categorizing fields as "masculine" or "feminine" didn't really influence my choice of study. Lack of support and self-confidence can be a hindrance when entering a world that doesn't seem to be our own. Admittedly, you may have to battle with some people, but you can make your mark, like anyone else, as a woman.

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Photo d'Emelyne Berger

These days, female figures who make their mark and who have made their mark on science are increasingly recognized, which is a good thing and gives the future generation of scientists a diversity to be able to identify with.

Emelyne Berger Physical sciences student and member of the "Kap to UNIVERSEH" kot-à-projet.

What do you think would facilitate and encourage a woman to study science and, ultimately, a career in science?

You only need to look at the history of science to understand that every human being is capable of great things if they are allowed to. Nowadays, female figures who have left their mark on science are increasingly recognized, which is a good thing and gives the future generation of scientists a diversity to identify with. They, like them, have paved the way for us to have the freedom to choose what we want to do with our lives.

I find it unfortunate that it still takes days like these to emphasize the fact that we are all equal. I just think that everyone should be pushed to pursue what they're drawn to, and valued according to their abilities.

What message would you like to give to a woman who might be hesitant about taking up astronomy studies?

When you find your path, you have to follow it. I'd tell her not to hesitate, and that if it turns out in the end that the path doesn't suit her, this is in no way a sign of inferiority or inability.

An inspiring message to share?

The message I'd like to share is a short phrase that I've been trying to keep in mind ever since it was passed on to me: Don't try, just do it.

Carine Michiels, Vice-Rector, Research

As part of the 60th anniversary of the European Federation of Biochemical Societies (FEBS), explore the captivating stories of the scientific journeys of 35 women scientists. Among them discover the story of Carine Michiels, Vice-Rector for Research and Libraries.

Article FEBS Carine Michiels

"Research has always fascinated me. I studied biology with the aim of studying plant biotechnology, but ended up in a human cell biology laboratory. I've never regretted that choice. Over 40 years later, I'm still fascinated by the complexity of cellular behavior, and in particular by the plasticity of cancer cells. Teaching scientific methodology to students and mentoring young researchers is something I particularly enjoy. "

Gender and diversity at UNamur

La prise en compte de la dimension de genre est une priorité à l’Université de Namur pour garantir à toutes et tous les mêmes chances de réussite. L’université met l’accent sur la promotion de l’accès des femmes aux sciences et technologies (STEM) et encourage activement leur participation dans les développements scientifiques.

 

UNIVERSEH | Opportunities in the space sector

UNamur is a member of the European alliance European Space University for Earth and Humanity (UNIVERSEH), which focuses on the theme of space. This is a real recognition of UNamur's expertise in the field of space, and a gateway to new international collaborations in both teaching and research, around a field that is driving employment and socio-economic development.

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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Artificial intelligence at the service of the educational imagination: the innovative gamble of André Fűzfa and Fabrice Rasir

IA
Vulgarisation scientifique

An astrophysics expert, Professor André Fűzfa (Faculté des sciences, Institut Naxys) also harnesses his scientific knowledge to take everyone on a journey into the world of the imagination, through literature. Finding Ganymede is his new novel, co-created with illustrator Fabrice Rasir, an alumnus of the Mathematics Department. A book that incorporates images generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The novel is thus a skilful blend of graphic AI, physics and fiction that helps stimulate the imagination while providing an instructive dimension.

couverture-roman-retrouver-ganymede

Entertaining and educating

For André Fűzfa, writing is not the result of a quest for notoriety; it's a necessity to share ideas that are deeply close to his heart. Indeed, fiction enables him to tackle complex - or delicate - themes through the action and choices of characters. The imaginary thus enables us to reflect on current issues in our society, such as the antagonism between the exploration and exploitation of space. Beyond mere entertainment, his novels also aim to educate and offer food for thought about our world. André Fűzfa chose science fiction for its escapist power, but also for its ability to tackle complex scientific subjects - such as interstellar travel - in an accessible and entertaining way.

AI as story support

Retetrouver Ganymède is part of the same universe as André Fűzfa's first novel, "À l'appel des étoiles ", yet can be read independently. Given the imaginative richness of his fiction, the author has chosen to integrate graphic evocations into the novel. The originality? These images were generated with the help of AI, skilfully piloted by Fabrice Rasir.

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The Venus Shield ©Retrouver Ganymede

Fabrice Rasir, an alumnus of the University of Namur (with a degree in mathematics obtained in 1996), is an IT consultant for a major Belgian company by day. But by night, he's an AI-rtist pushing the limits of these new tools everyone's talking about. The incredible productions of Fabrice aka Bibheist serve as a benchmark in this emerging milieu.

The desire to co-create meant that Fabrice Rasir was fully involved in the fiction creation process. Indeed, illustration here becomes much more than a simple supplement: it's an integral part of the story, with images created in interaction with the story. Some descriptions in the text have even been adjusted to suit the images, creating an enriching dialogue between the written word and the illustration. "By proceeding in this way, we realize that we have influenced the reader's imagination, but on the other hand we accentuate immersion because some of the images are really striking."

André Fűzfa adds, "These are not illustrations, they are evocations. You shouldn't take the illustrations as an iconographic 'canon' but as a vision. It gives certain elements to the readership and allows them to take a break from reading and escape into artistic co-creation."

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L'Allée des Grandes ©Retrouver Ganymède

In fact, the images in this book are an integral part of the reading experience. This is not an attempt to skew the reader's vision, but on the contrary to enrich it. Illustration can offer a medium that stimulates the imagination, that opens up possibilities.

Creating with AI

"We selected a dozen themes from the novel to explore visually. Then, each illustration is worked on separately. Fabrice contributes graphic explorations and then generates several dozen images. We choose together. Then there's all the complex post-processing work during which Fabrice refines the illustration." André Fűzfa explains.

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Kyūshigai Shinnosuke ©Retrouver Ganymèd

For the authors, the process of creating the images was both a challenge and a fascinating experience. Indeed, the illustration work involved not just creating images, but producing a graphic exploration of characters, settings and moods.

One of the main obstacles encountered when using AI lies in its difficulty in accurately rendering specific elements, such as certain physical features of characters or symbolic ornaments. Indeed, the technology doesn't allow for the detail offered by a draughtsman's line. The clothes and finery produced by AI are often remarkably original, but only if they remain in the same style, which the AI can identify.

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Aspera Holdfény, the novel's heroine ©Retrouver Ganymède

By placing artificial intelligence at the service of readers' imaginations, André Fűzfa and Fabrice Rasir have signed a work that offers readers a modern and novel narrative experience.

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Finding Ganymede - the pitch

Two Ganymedes clash. The first is a utopia forged by exiles fleeing Earth and its patriarchal domination, an egalitarian society dreaming of a new world - before disappearing, drowned in the ice that formed Anat's Palimpsest. The second, the She-Wolf's Ganymede, perverted this legacy to establish a reign of cruelty and oppression.

Aspera, orphan of the debacle turned indomitable warrior, will go beyond her revenge to bring down tyranny and free her own kind. Meanwhile, Sarah and her family, refugees on a moribund Earth after an interstellar shipwreck, are once again forced to flee for their survival, and that of humanity.

But the greatest threat is not this approaching interplanetary war. It only prepares the way for the advent of the Void Gangrene, a cataclysm that the Universe has been undergoing since the birth of the Shadows...

Between dream and ruin, what has become of Ganymede's utopia?

And you, how far would you go to find it?

Better prediction of climate extremes

Mathematics
Durable
SDG #13 - Measures to combat climate change

Statistics usually focus on anticipating events that fall within the norm. But what about rare events? They are dealt with by a branch of mathematics called extreme value theory, in which Anna Kiriliouk, lecturer in statistics at UNamur, is a specialist. Applied to the climate, this theory enables us to better predict extreme climatic events, at a time when these are multiplying due to climate change.

Photo de la banquise et de la mer

This article is taken from the "Impact" section of the December 2024 issue of Omalius magazine.

On the night of January 31, 1953, the North Sea suddenly rose by almost four meters, submerging parts of the Netherlands and Belgium. The disaster caused the death of over 2,500 people, as well as considerable damage. According to Anna Kiriliouk, lecturer in statistics at UNamur's Department of Mathematics and EMCP Faculty, this exceptional event truly marked "the beginning of the development of extreme value theory, with the development of the first extreme value construction project"

The Delta Plan, as it is called, is a system of dikes that protects the Netherlands against the risk of flooding, with these dikes overtopping once every 10,000 years. A rare danger, certainly, but not zero, which "could not have been calculated using conventional statistics, which are very poorly adapted to rare events", believes the mathematician.

While climate change is often discussed in terms of averages, such as rising temperatures and sea levels, it also has the consequence of increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, with significant repercussions for our societies. "In other words, the risk increases along with the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere", summarizes the researcher. "Thus, a flood calculated in 1953 to occur only every 10,000 years does not have the same significance as today. The latter could happen more frequently, for example every 1,000 years."

Attributing extreme events

While extreme weather events are on the increase, it's difficult in practice to attribute any particular flood or drought to climate change. With this in mind, Anna Kiriliouk has just been awarded an interdisciplinary research project,named EXALT, in collaboration with UCLouvain. "It involves both climatologists and statisticians, she reveals.

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Photo d'Anna Kiriliouk

"This collaboration is very important, because answering this question of the attribution of extreme events can only be done through the development of a common language between our two disciplines, which currently operate separately. We have a lot to learn from each other"

Anna Kiriliouk Lecturer in Statistics, Department of Mathematics and EMCP Faculty, UNamur

In practice, the EXALT project will therefore calculate the probabilities of an extreme event occurring, and compare this probability with that of the same situation in a world where GHG emissions would not have increased. "Of course, we don't have real data from such a world", says Anna Kiriliouk. "We are therefore basing ourselves on alternative climate simulations, the quality of which we will moreover compare, with a focus on extreme events."

Divided into three working groups, the EXALT project will seek in particular to determine the role of climate change in the occurrence of floods, as well as heat waves and drought in Europe. And to do so as realistically as possible: "One of the things we want to incorporate into climate models concerns the dependency between data," explains Anna Kiriliouk. "For example, if a heat wave hits Namur, there's a good chance that the same temperatures will affect Louvain-La-Neuve. We therefore say that there is a strong spatial dependency between these two data. However, this dependence is probably not at all valid for rain, which is much more heterogeneous. By taking into account all these variables, both spatial and temporal, we hope to improve existing models."

A third working group will study much more distant areas, located in Antarctica. "Until 2016, the extent of the Antarctic ice pack was increasing, before abruptly decreasing", the researcher illuminates. "Or, according to the models, this event was considered almost impossible. But with one of EXALT's partners, we began to analyze the evolution of pack ice extent using extreme value theory. With the latter, this sudden drop was no longer so improbable. This gave us confidence in our approach, which is all the more important when the state of the pack ice has such a strong influence on other climate variables."

Compound events

This interaction between several climatic processes is, moreover, the subject of a second project just obtained by Anna Kiriliouk and funded by an FNRS Mandat d'Impulsion Scientifique. "The aim is to make it possible to study what we call compound events", explains the researcher. "During extreme climatic situations, we usually associate very high or low values simultaneously, such as a lack of rain and high temperature, resulting in an intense drought. But in the case of compound phenomena, we find that the combination of several variables, albeit in a moderate state, results in a severe and unusual event."

In 2017, for example, Hurricane Sandy, which struck the US coastline, is considered a compound event. While North Atlantic hurricanes usually dissipate in mid-ocean, this one coincided with onshore winds and a high tide, leading to massive flooding of New York and the surrounding area.

"In this project, we will therefore try to include more flexibility between the different variables, by introducing different degrees of dependence, the mathematician elaborates. "We're also going to try, as a second step, to group the dependencies together, in order to lighten the models, which become more and more complex as we add nuances to them. And once these models have been modified, we'll apply them to recent events to test their realism."

EXALT - ARC project (FWB)

Funded by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB), ARC projects are Concerted Research Action projects that aim to develop university or inter-university centers of excellence in basic research areas and, where possible, that carry out basic and applied research in an integrated way and aim to add economic and social value to research results.

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Mandat d'impulsion scientifique (MIS) - FNRS

The aim of the funding granted is to support young permanent researchers wishing to develop a scientific unit within their academic institution in a promising field. This mandate has earned Anna Kiriliouk a fellowship from Namur Research College (NARC).

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This article is taken from the "Impact" section of Omalius magazine #35 (December 2024).

Visuel de Omalius #35 - décembre 2024
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Ce contenu est en cours de migration. Nous vous invitons à consulter la page externe de l'institut de recherche naXys.

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